Thurcroft arrest in metal op

Police arrested a man who tried to sell metal taken in a Thurcroft burglary as part of a crackdown on metal theft across the north of England.

A 33-year-old man from Rotherham was arrested in Thurcroft after attempting to dispose of stolen metal at a scrap yard.

The Coast to Coast Tornado operation involved 10 police forces, including the British Transport Police, and resulted in 57 arrests linked to £115,000 of seized and suspected stolen goods.

The operation involved officers visiting 215 scrap yards and stopping and searching 3,546 vehicles. In total 76 vehicles were seized.

It has disrupted the theft, disposal, transportation and exportation of stolen metal through systematically targeting the road network, ports and scrap yards, using all available powers.

Lead officer for the region, Supt Tim Innes said: “The scale and depth of this operation is unprecedented.”

“Never before, have so many law enforcement agencies and industry organisations worked so closely together to tackle metal theft across the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.”

“This extensive operation covering Liverpool to Hull has taken a vast amount of planning and co-ordination and the results speak for themselves”

Across the two regions a minimum of £8,000 worth of fines were issued over the five days for vehicle related offences such using red diesel, breaching waste carrier licences, not holding insurance and not wearing a seatbelt.

Police Commissioner for South Yorkshire Shaun Wright welcomed the collaboration between the forces and the message it sends out that police will not stand by and let communities be affected by metal theft.